Race Your Savage X by Building the Ultimate Monster Truck Racer!

It's time for our latest set of tutorial instructions, this time
featuring the Savage X 4.6 monster truck! Monster truck racing is
still quite popular, and every racer is looking for the next
fastest thing to add to their truck to make it quicker out of the
corners, get a higher top speed, and get more traction in every
situation.

All this makes the Savage X 4.6 a nimble and powerful monster
truck racer, but like any stock machine it can be improved for
ultimate racing performance!

How can this be accomplished, you ask? Here's a few things you
can ask your local model shop for on your next visit:#87245 Savage Suspension
Conversion Set - this adds thick upper turnbuckles and
super-strong aluminium rear hub carriers, front steering knuckles,
front uprights and turnbuckle mounts, plus stainless steel outer
hinge pins. You can also adjust the wheelbase at the rear with the
included spacers.

#A720 Big Bore Aluminium Shock
Set - with extra oil capacity, these shocks really smooth
out the rough stuff, keeping the tyres on the ground for maximum
traction and control. These are progressive shocks with 2-stage
springs, with ride height clips for super-fast adjustment. You only
need one shock per corner with these fitted to the Savage!

#87233 Nubz Conversion Set
with 17mm UV Joints - not only do you get super-tough
truggy-style 17mm anodized clamp hex hubs and thick axles, with
this setup you get extra-strong universal joint driveshafts and the
ultimate HPI monster truck racing tyres: Nubz! Low-profile square
pins on race compound rubber and moulded inner foams fitted on
aerodynamic dish wheels for a fantastic racing feel on just about
every racing track.

#86399 Heavy Duty Heatsink
Engine Mount - strengthening the engine plate while
providing extra cooling area to keep the engine at its optimum
operating temperature, this is a one-piece, billet-machined chunk
of aluminium that is solid, light and extra-cool.

#86138 Polished Aluminium
Tuned Pipe - For more power at the top end and massive
head-turning sound, you'll want an aluminium dual-chamber pipe. The
standard plastic pipe is dual-chamber as well, but the option pipe
looks better and is definitely much louder!

#77127 Heavy Duty Spur Gear
47T - the stock spur gear is plastic, which is nice and
light in weight, but racers using the full power of the F4.6 engine
need a bit of extra insurance on the track, and replacing the 47T
plastic spur gear with the 47T Heavy Duty steel version is the
first step in beefing up the drivetrain.

#77108 Racing Clutch Bell
18T - the steel spur gears must be used with our Racing
Clutch Bells, so for the Savage X 4.6 Racer build we've gone with
an 18T clutch bell for a bit extra top speed compared to the stock
17T clutch bell. The Racing Clutch range for the Savage allows you
to fit different sizes of clutch bells, from 15 to 20 teeth, so you
can choose the best combination for your track needs. The smaller
clutch bells give you more acceleration at the cost of top speed,
and larger clutch bells will let you hit higher top speeds, but
your Savage will be a little slower out of the corners.

#2012 Hump Battery Pack for
Receiver - it just won't do to run out of servo power when
you're out on the track, so ideally you'll need a long-life
rechargeable pack to power the steering and throttle servos. With
the HPI 1200mAh hump pack for the Savage, you'll be able to run
several tanks in a row without having to stop to change
batteries!

#308 Battery Level
Indicator - when you're running a rechargeable battery
pack, you'll want to know how much juice your pack has, and that's
where the genius LED Battery Level Indicator comes in. Pull into
the pits and peek under the body, and you'll know at a glance
exactly how much power you have left, so you can plan a battery
swap before you lose all power.

#80587 SF-2 Servo Metal Gear
Conversion Set - most racers have their own preferred type
of servo, so they'll swap out the stock SF-2 steering servo with
their expensive digital, high-torque, metal-gear servo. However,
not everyone has the cash to upgrade right away, so if you're going
to race with the standard servo it's a good idea to upgrade it with
the Metal Gear Conversion Set.

Finally, to fit the Big Bore shocks properly, get one pack each
of Z547 M3x20mm Cap Head Screws and Z224 M3x8mm Washers. You'll
need four each of the screws and washers.

Make sure that you are careful when using sharp objects such as
the cutting blade and screwdrivers. Children should have adult
supervision and guidance.

So we start with the stock Savage X 4.6, with all of its
standard beefed-up dimensions and drivetrain parts. It's a great
starting point, but let's get building!

The first several steps involve removing the engine and
installing a few things on it, and changing out the spur gear.

Installing the heavy duty spur
gear
Every HPI spur gear comes with a fresh new slipper pad, before
attaching it use some motor cleaner spray and a rag to clean any
oils off the new spur - this lets the slipper pad glue grip the
metal surface as much as possible. Before removing the old spur
gear, measure the length of the slipper spring and use the HPI
cross wrench to secure the locknut in position, pushing the spring
down until it matches the previous spring length.

Attaching the one-piece engine
mount
Use a good-quality hex wrench to securely attach the engine to the
new one-piece engine mount. You shouldn't need a ball wrench, a
normal straight hex wrench will work fine. If you're going to
replace the engine's heatsink head, now is the best time to do
so.

Installing the new tuned pipe
Cut off the nylon strap holding the stock tuned pipe, and slip in
the new aluminium tuned pipe. Get a good grip on the new strap by
using a pair of pliers to pull as tightly as possible. The strap
won't be the only thing holding the pipe in place, but you don't
want the silicone connector to get loose!

Attaching the flywheel
properly
Use large adjustable-grip pliers to hold the flywheel in place, and
remove the stock clutch bell. Replace with the new heavy duty
clutch bell and tighten the screw down. Use some of the blue thread
lock from the Nubs UV Joint set to make sure the clutchbell screw
doesn't come loose. If you wanted to replace the clutch shoes with
our #87196 Aluminium
Clutch Shoes or the #86391 Heavy Duty Aluminium
Clutch Shoes, now's the time to do it!

Finished with the engine!
There you go, the finished engine set up! Fit it back in place and
put the engine mount screws in a bit, but don't tighten them down
all the way yet. Make sure you're using the threadlock again.

Get the right gear mesh
Before tightening everything down, get a strip of scrap paper and
fit it in between the clutch bell and spur gear. Shift the engine
mount close to the spur gear and tighten a couple of the screws
down at a time while making sure the paper stays in place and the
gear teeth line up as much as possible. When you've tightened the
mount screws as much as possible, pull the paper out, hold the spur
gear in place and lightly rotate the clutch bell to feel the amount
of free space there is before the teeth touch. There should be
1-2mm of movement either way, but as little as possible to make
sure the gear mesh is correct for efficient running.

Install the Battery Level
Indicator
Adding the receiver battery takes a few seconds, and installing the
Battery Level Indicator is nearly as quick. A couple of screws is
all it takes to attach the LED screen, then swap out the battery
connectors as directed and you're all set.

Now we'll removed the existing suspension parts and get to work
swapping in the new racing suspension set!

Removing the plastic suspension
parts
To get the suspension kit installed, the first thing to do is
remove the front and rear uprights and knuckles, the upper links
and the rear knuckle links. Use a large hex wrench to carefully get
any stubborn ball bearings out of the knuckles: push one side
gently, then the other side until the bearing comes out. Make sure
to push the inner metal edge, not the black rubber part.

There we are, your Savage is stripped down and ready for some alloy
action!

Everything ready to assemble
There are all the parts waiting to get fitted. Make sure you have a
sharp hobby knife or rotary tool ready for the next part, and read
through the instructions first before starting. Some installation
steps are different between the Savage and Savage X, so make sure
you know what's coming next when you're assembling everything.

Trimming the plastic
The only parts you'll need to trim away on your truck are the areas
shown here. Remember that you need to do the same thing front and
rear. These parts are clearly shown in the assembly instructions
also.

Installing the bearings
Carefully push in the knuckle bearings - if you have to push them
in, use a gentle amount of force and push only on the inner metal
edge, not the black rubber part.

Assemble the universal
dogbones
Because we're installing the Nubz conversion set at the same time,
it's best to assemble the universal dogbones at this point. Notice
that the cross pins have carefully ground flat spots where the set
screw fits. Use a small amount of threadlocking compound on the set
screw, and make sure the screw fits against the flat spot of the
cross pin (look carefully at the picture!).

Installing the hinge pins
Nearly there! Push the hinge pins in carefully and use your pliers
to gently push the e-clips into place.

Rear end hinge pins
At the rear end, the assembly is a little simpler than at the
front, except you have the adjustable wheelbase spacers to look out
for. A longer wheelbase gives you extra stability on large tracks
but it will take more time to turn into a corner, while a shorter
wheelbase makes the truck turn in a bit faster at the expense of
high-speed stability.

Bolt on the Big Bore bad
boys!
And now we get to the Big Bore shocks! They're fully assembled and
ready to go right out of the package, all you have to do is bolt
them on.

Spacing out the shock ends
Here's where you need those 20mm M3 screws and washers. Because the
Big Bore shocks are thicker than the standard shocks and the
turnbuckle upper links are also quick thick, if you mount them in
the standard position the springs will rub against the upper links
and eventually come off the lower spring mount on the shock. To
solve this, use a long screw (the Z547 M3x20mm cap head screws are
ideal for this) and a washer (Z224 M3x8 washer) to hold the lower
shock end in place. The steel screw will resist bending, and the
length of the screw allows it to go all the way to the inner shock
support on the arm, giving the shock as much support as possible.
You can see how much room this simple mod gives the shock spring
and upper link!

99% done...
There we are, nearly complete! Just need to add the wheels...

Ready to go!
With the Nubs securely bolted on, this Savage X 4.6 is ready to
RACE! Now you just need to fit on a sleek racing bodyshell like the
#7196 Ford F-150 or #7194 Nitro GT-2, or go for a quick and easy
pre-painted Nitro GT-1 design like the #7752 black/metallic grey/metallic smoke, #7754 metallic grey/silver/metallic blue or
#7753 metallic grey/black/red designs!

Get out there and tear it up! Remember that there are still
more parts you can add to the Savage to tune it for any race track
you might find. Change the gearing, lighten it up with titanium
gear shafts, add the 3-speed transmission, choose different tyres,
and beef it up further with stronger outdrives - the options are
almost endless!

We hope you've enjoyed this upgrade tutorial. If you want to
order the parts used here, just contact your local model shop and
ask them to order the HPI part numbers listed at the beginning.